The Birthday Party

(London 1st March 1980 - August 1983)

Bibliography (II)


Bibliography: a chronological overview of all books, magazines and (selected) articles
containing substantial sections on the Australian band The Birthday Party.
-Information in grey italics is uncertain-


Special

50 ONE ACT PLAYS (THE THEATRE OF REVENGE)

50 One Act Plays -front
Plays courtesy by Robert Miller
(A 17MB pdf file of the typoscript is available upon request from me)


" UGLY IS AS UGLY DOES"
or
"THE DANCE OF THE 50 CANCERS"
by Nick Cave (& Lydia Lunch)

Introduction:
In October 1981 Lydia Lunch met The Birthday Party in New York during their first tour of the US. She travelled to the UK to support them on their November shows, and cornered and cajoled Nick Cave into writing some (theatre) plays with her. The pair started writing in December 1981 in London, finishing about 10 one-page plays. Nick wrote about 40 more on his own in London until about July 1982.

One of the plays was performed live by Lydia Lunch with Swans @ the White Columns gallery in NYC in May 1983.
Late 1983/early 1984 a Sydney (AU) theatre company attempted to stage the plays, but the effort was soon aborted.

Five were first published in the US magazine Forced Exposure (1985/86), 14 appeared in Nick Cave's "King Ink" book in 1988. Ten were also used as a basis for Mike Matthews "AS-FIX-E-8" 1993 comic strip. In total 27 plays have been published so far. The remainder has never seen the light of day until a kind soul recently released copies of the typoscripts from his archives.

Content:
SEX (FILTH) [11 plays]
1. One Day On A Bus [by LL, (FE-2)]
2a. Garbage Hearts [by LL & NC, (AS)(KI-1)]
2b. Garbage Hearts [by LL & NC, (AS)(KI-1)]
3a. Fresh Cunt In The Can [by LL & NC, (FE-1)(VI)(AS)]
3b. Fresh Cunt In The Can [by LL & NC, (FE-1)(VI)(AS)]
4. Saucey Gets Snipped
5. Hard-On For Love [not the song]
6a. Brafulla Blood
6b. Brafulla Blood
7. Find The Villian
8. Jacky [missing]
9. De Carla Da Cha Cha Does The Dog
10. The Cafeteria (part 1)
11. The Cafeteria (part 2)

SPEEDWAY TRACKS [10 plays]
1. Hells-Wheels-Called-Elvis [by NC, (FE-2)]
2. Greasy-Hot-Rod-Cream [by NC, (KI-1) (FE-2)]
3. American-Speedway-Fever-Trash [by NC, (AS)(KI-1)]
4. Crash-Crash-Kerraash
5. Death-Track Rudie
6. Gold-Cup-Cum-Pot [by NC, (FE-2)]
7. Golden-Horn-Hooligan [by NC, (KI-1)]
8. Grease-Gun-Shooter [by NC, (AS)(KI-1)]
9. Pit-Stop-Junk-Love [by NC, (AS)]
10. Prayer

RING AROUND TO ROSARY p.1 [5 plays]
1. The Ecstacy Of Saint Theresa
2. I Placed My Mouth
3. The Five Fools Of The Father Foot [by NC & LL, (AS)(KI-1)]
4. Deep In The Woods [by NC, (KI-1)]
5. Ditmus's Wake

RING AROUND TO ROSARY p.2 - SALOME [5 plays]
1. The Seven Veils [by NC, (KI-1)]
2. Dialogue With The Baptist [by NC, (KI-1)]
3. Salomé's Reward/Wish [by NC, (KI-1)]
4. The Chop [by NC, (KI-1)]
5. The Platter [by NC, (KI-1)]

UGLY IS AS UGLY DOES (10 GREAT MEN) (VIOLENCE) [10 plays]
1. Dead Joe (in Home For The Holidays) [by NC & LL, (AS)(KI-1)]
2. Stanley Floyd (in Sally Gets A Spanking)
3. Dead Joe #2 (in A Living-Thing) [by NC & LL, (AS)]
4. Sonny (in Sonny's Burning) [by NC, (KI-1)]
5. Idiot Boy (in Pretty Voice/Pretty Hair)
6. Gun (in Fears Of Gun) [by NC, (KI-1)] [missing]
7. Leroy Biggs (in Slave-Babies)
8. Maine Kelly (in Maine Kelly And Me On A Bender) [by NC & LL, (KI-1)(ST)]
9. Bull (in Her Secret Beast) [by NC & LL, (AS)]
10. Jimmy Cork (in (Im) Potential Axidental)

SOLILOQUY X 5 - [5 plays]
1. I Placed My Mouth
2. Onion-Head
3. Saharas Soliloquy
4. Sea-Dog Soliloquy
5. Brainstorm

SILENT BUT DEADLY- [3 plays]
1. Spin The Bullet (a.k.a. Gun Play # 3) [by NC & LL, (KI-1)]
2. Bleed To Be Freed (a.k.a. Emergency Ward 11.45 P.M.) [by NC & LL, (KI-1)]
3. Untitled (Mutilation)

APOLOGIES/INSERTS/NARRATIVES AND JUNK [3 plays]
1. The Stoning Of Ruby Von Monster [by LL & NC, (FE-1)(AS)]
2. Message From The Authors
3. Apology From The Author [missing]


Notes:
(AS) = AS-FIX-E-8,Comic book -Last Gasp ISBN 0-86719-233-X (US,1993)(Texts: Nick Cave & Lydia Lunch,drawings:Mike Matthews)
(FE-1) = FORCED EXPOSURE #7/8 Summer 1985, Magazine (US, 1985)
(FE-2) = FORCED EXPOSURE #9 Winter 1986, Magazine (US, 1986)
(KI-1) = KING INK, Book - Black Spring Press -ISBN 0-948238-04-6 (UK,1988)
(ST) = SPEED TRIALS, LP - Homestead Records HMS-011 (US,1984) (Lydia Lunch with Swans live @ NYC May 1983)
(VI) = VAMPYROTEUTES INFERNALIS # 4, Magazine (AT,1990)

  • Unpublished in this form (1981/1982)




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